The New Year's Ball

It was almost New Year's, five year old,  McKayla Pine,  her older sister, Alyssa and their parents were sitting around the breakfast table. Alyssa and their parents were deep in discussion about New Years, but, McKayla was extremely bored and was barely listening to the conversation going on around her.

Suddenly, McKayla thought she heard something about a New Year's Ball so she sat up and paid attention. She was crazy about princesses. She had every princess doll and every princess  costume. She had seen every princess movie dozens of times. She would love to go to a New Year's Ball or any other fancy ball for that matter just like a real princess. "There's a New Year's Ball?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah." replied Alyssa. "It's in New York City."

"Oh," said McKayla sadly. "Do you think we can get invited?" she asked hopefully. They lived in Colorado and New York City was kind of far. McKayla had never been there. She wondered if they would be able to fly there for New Years. She had always wanted to go on an airplane.

Alyssa burst out laughing. "You don't have to get invited anyone can go." she informed her sister snidely. Mom gave Alyssa an angry look.

"I would love to see a New Year's Ball." sighed McKayla. She didn't want to come right out and ask because she was sure her parents would say they couldn't go. She thought maybe if she hinted at enough  and they knew how much it meant to her, they would give in and take her.

"Well, then you shall." replied Daddy.

"Oh, really Daddy!" exclaimed McKayla. She had not expected it to be that she easy. She ran up to Daddy hugged him excitedly.

McKayla spend the next several days planning for the trip. She picked out her favorite princess dress to wear and her favoriteprincess tiara, the one with all the colored jewels. She practiced dancing and curtsying. She even planned out what she would say when she met a real life prince and princess. She was so busy getting ready herself that she didn't even notice that noone else in the family seemed to be getting ready for the trip.

When New Year's had almost arrived, McKayla loaded up her little princess suitcase with everything she wanted to take on the trip and lugged it in to Mommy and Daddy's room. "I'm ready to go." she said.

Mommy and Daddy exchanged puzzled looks. "Ready to go where?"  They asked staring at her confusedly.

"To the New Year's Ball!" McKayla reminded them forcefully. How could they forget something so important to her like that? "Aren't we going to New York to the New Year's ball?" she asked worriedly.

"Oh." said Mommy  as realization dawned. She frowned sadly at McKayla. "I'm sorry. It's a little too expensive to go to New York right now, and Daddy can't take off so much time from work."

"But, Daddy promised me I want to be at the New Year's ball!" she cried glaring at her father and just about bursting into tears.

"And you can." replied Daddy calmly. "Through the magic of televison."

McKayla had no idea what he was talking about, but she liked the idea of magic and princesses. She Suddenly she was excited all over again.  She couldn't wait for New Year's eve.

On New Year's Eve, the whole family sat around the television. McKayla was a little nervous. She was wasn't sure exactly how this was going to work. Would all they be sucked into the TV or something? She hoped it didn't hurt.

She waited and waited. It was almost midnight and still nothing had happened.

Finally, Alyssa shouted. "It's time for the countdown."

McKayla stared at the TV and waited nervously.

"There it is!" said Alyssa.

All McKayla saw was a brightly colored ball sliding down a pole. "There is what?" she asked.

"That's the New Year's ball." Alyssa told her as if she was speaking to an idiot.

Mommy glared at Alyssa. "Isn't it pretty?" she asked McKayla.

McKayla burst into tears. "I don't want to see a stupid colored ball." she cried. "I want to go to a ball like a princess." She ran upstairs crying.

The next day, McKayla stayed in her room all day. She wouldn't come down no matter how much Mommy and Daddy begged. Finally, at night Daddy carried McKayla out of her room.  "Daddy!" she screamed. "Put me down. I just want to be sad."

"But we have a surprise for you!" said Alyssa who was standing outside McKayla's door.

McKayla was surprised to see that Alyssa was wearing a paper crown. She was torn between wanting to run back in her room and a desire to see what was going on.. She decided to find out what was going on and started to follow Alyssa downstairs, but Daddy stopped her and took her arm. "Your highness." he said and smiled at her. He escorted her down the stairs.

When they got downstairs, McKayla couldn't believe her eyes. A whole feast was laid out on the table and they were even using the good dishes. They whole room was decorated too.

"I made the decorations." Alyssa told her proudly.

"Welcome to McKayla's ball." declared Mommy and Daddy and Alyssa cheerfully.

"A ball just for me?" asked McKayla excitedly. She didn't even care that there wasn't going to be a real prince or princess there. Then, she remembered something. "I'll be right back." she told everyone as she quickly headed for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" they asked curiously,

"To put back on my princess gown and my tiara." she said.

Izzy Magoo and Tori too

Izzy Magoo had a good life. She was smart. She was pretty. She had a Mom and Dad who loved her. She had a lot of friends. She also had a little sister Tori who followed her around . That part wasn't so good. She was always trying to get away from Tori but Tori just kept following her around.

Izzy went down the block to her best friend, Jada's house to try to get away from Tori. She  knocked loudly on the door.

"Who is it?" called a voice from inside the house.

"It's Izzy Magoo." replied Izzy.

"And Tori too." added a squeaky little voice from behind her.

Izzy turned around and glared at her little sister. "What are you doing here?" she asked angrily. Tori just smiled at her and refused to be intimidated.  She would not go away no matter how much Izzy glared at her.

"Oh, hi, Izzy." Jada greeted her friend warmly as she opened the door.

"And Tori too." declared Tori stepping out from behind her sister. "I'm here too."  she announced proudly.

"Yeah, you are, aren't you?" replied Jada without any enthusiasm. Tori failed to notice the sarcasm in her tone and just smiled brightly.

Izzy sighed.

Later, that day Izzy complained to her mother. "Why does Tori always have to follow me around? Doesn't she have any friends of her own or things she can do that don't involve me?"

Mother just smiled. "You're her big sister. She likes to be around you."

Izzy grimaced. That was not helpful at all!

The next day, Izzy and Jada met some cute boys at the park. "What's your name?" one of the boys asked Izzy, and he was the one that she had her eye on too. He was definitely the cuter one.

"I'm Izzy Magoo." she replied with a huge smile, but before either she or the cute boy could get out another word Tori burst out from behind the park bench.

"And I'm Tori." she said.

That was the last straw. Izzy was so angry it appeared as if smoke were poring from her ears. "Tori will you just go home." she shouted angrily.

Tori stared at her sister in shock for a few minutes and then took off.

The three older kids stared after her. "Maybe, you better go check on her." suggested Jada. "Make sure she gets home safely." Izzy pouted but reluctantly went after her sister.

When Izzy got home, Tori was there sitting on the steps not looking happy either. "What do you want?" she asked glaring at her sister.

Izzy smiled. She was actually relieved that her little sister was okay. She knew she shouldn't have let her run off by herself. "Hey. why shouldn't I be here?" she asked trying to lighten the mood. "I live here too."  Tori didn't even crack a smile. "I'm sorry." conceded Izzy. "I love you, I'm glad you're okay, but I am not sorry I yelled at you. You don't need to hang around me all the time. Maybe, you could do something on your own once in a while."

Tori made a pouty puppy dog face."You're not even a little sorry that you yelled at me?" she asked sticking out her lower lip in an exaggerated way.

"Okay, maybe a little sorry." Izzy admitted smiling at the goofy face Tori was making.

"Okay, I'll try not to follow you around all the time." agreed Tori reluctantly.

A little while latter, Izzy was sitting on the porch swing reading a book when Tori burst out of the house. 'Boy, that didn't take long.' she thought opening her mouth to complain that Tori was coming to bother her again so soon, but Tori smiled and slid right past her and down the porch steps. "Where are you going?" inquired Izzy in surprise.

"I'm going next door to see the new neighbors." replied Tori without even turning around. "Mommy wants me to bring them this pie." she added holding up a white cardboard box that Izzy hadn't even noticed. Tori hurried next door and up the porch steps and knocked on the door.

Izzy was about to go back to her book when she saw the door next open and out step this really cute boy. He was even cuter than the boy from the park earlier that day! Izzy hurried down the porch steps and over to the neighbor's just as Tori was  handing over the pie, explaining why their mother had sent it, and introducing herself. "I'm Tori Magoo." she said in conclusion.

"And I'm Izzy." Izzy added.

"She likes to follow me around." declared Tori.

Izzy blushed and was about to yell at Tori, but the cute boy smiled.  "I'm Tom. "he said as a younger boy burst out from behind him.

"And I'm Toby." added the younger boy.

Izzy and Tom looked at each other burst out laughing.

Little Bunny Farfel

Little Bunny Farfel was bored. She had already played with her toys. She had already read her books. She had already watched TV. What was left to do?

Suddenly, she spied her big sister, Brenda's open door. Bunny knew that Brenda was at play rehearsal and a brilliant idea quickly popped into in her head. She quickly hurried into Brenda's room. She knew she wasn't supposed to be in there snooping around, but she went in anyway.

She tried to be careful, but she really wasn't very. She spied Brenda's makeup case lying open on her desk and quickly ran over. She couldn't wait to be as old as Brenda and allowed to wear makeup too. Before, she knew it Brenda's make up was all over the desk and the floor and herself, and it was almost time for Brenda to get home. At least, Bunny thought so, but she couldn't tell time. Nevertheless, she hurried out of the room leaving the mess behind her.

A few hours later, Brenda came home so exhausted she even turned down the delicious dinner of stuffed shells  mother had cooked even though it was her absolute favorite. She said she wanted to rest before eating dinner. She quickly rushed up the stairs and into her room.   A bloodcurdling scream was heard throughout the house. "Bunny! she shrieked. "Bunny Farfel! I don't want you in my room! Stay out or else!"

In the kitchen, Bunny shrank back in her chair, but didn't say anything.

The next day, Brenda had play rehearsal again. Bunny tried to keep herself busy, but it was as if her sister's room was calling to her, and she quickly wandered in again. This time, she was really going to be good and just look around she promised herself, but she wandered over to her sister's bookshelf and couldn't help herself. She so loved books, and Brenda had quite a lot of them. Brenda was quite particular about her books. The way they looked, the condition they were in and even where they were placed on her bookshelves. She didn't let anybody touch her books. Bunny knew all of that, but she just ignored it. She just excitedly went pawing through all her sister's books piling them up every which way all over the floor. She was so busy with the books that she barely heard the front door open and Brenda come in until she was bounding up the stairs.  Bunny had no time to do anything but quickly crawl under the bed.

The minute, Brenda walked into the room, her mouth opened with shocked and horror. "Oh no! she cried in absolute despair. "My books! My beautiful book!" She fell to her knees and started to try to assess the damage and  began to reorganize her beloved books.

Under the bed, Bunny relaxed for a minute thinking she was safe. However, a minute later, Brenda's face lit up angrily and she called loudly not knowing her sister was under the bed. "Bunny Farfel! I don't want you in my room! Stay out or else!"

Bunny crawled out of the room and back into her own as quickly as she could the minute Brenda's back was turned.

The next day, Bunny tried even harder to resist the pull of her her sister's unoccupied room. She walked by several times, but did not go in. She was so proud of herself that she decided to reward herself by going in just for a minute, but she promised herself that she was not going to touch anything. That promise last about five minutes. Then, she noticed her sister's open closet and her mouth fell open in awe. Brenda had such pretty clothes. Bunny couldn't wait to be big like her sister and have beautiful big girl clothes too. She began grabbing at the clothes and pulling down as many as she could reach trying them on and then throwing them in a heap on the floor.

This time she was so caught up in what she was doing that she didn't even hear Brenda come in until it was too late, and she was already in the room.  "Bunny!" Brenda shouted at the top of her lungs upon spying her sister and the mess of her clothes.  Bunny was so startled that she immediately froze in her tracks. "Bunny!" Brenda yelled again . "Bunny Farfel! I have told you repeatedly to stay out of my room and you didn't listen!"

Bunny was terrified. She started trembling and shaking all over. "Are you going to turn me into a goon?" she asked worriedly.

Brenda looked at her little sister as if she were crazy. "What are you talking about? " she asked in confusion. "Turn you into a goon? What are we living in fairy tale?  I'm going to get a lock on my door." And she did.

Snow Dogs

It was a snow filled day and school was closed. After the initial excitement wore off best friends, Tanith Vroman and Benita Kelly were bored. Neither of them could think of anything exciting to do so they just lay on Tanith's plush pink carpet starring up at the ceiling.

After one or the other had suggested a handful of possible things to do and each had soundly been rejected, Tanith suddenly bolted up to a sitting position. "I know!" she exclaimed excitedly as though she had discovered the secret to world peace. "Let's make snow dogs!"

"Snow dogs?" replied Benita as if it were the craziest thing she had ever heard. 'What in the world is a snow dog.' she wondered but out loud she just said "Huh?"

"You know, dogs made out of snow." replied Tanith as though it should have been obvious.

"Is that even possible?" asked Benita doubtfully.

Tanith shrugged. "We won't know until we try."

"Okay." agreed Benita. She still wasn't sure it was going to work, but it was better than doing nothing.

They bundled up in their heavy winters coats, boots, scarves and gloves and headed out Tanith's front door. They gathered up piles of snow and tried to mold it into the shape of a dog, but it just kept  falling apart.

"I don't think this is going to work." Benita announced finally. "Let's go inside." She tried to usher Tanith back into the house, but Tanith resisted.

"No. Let's just try a little bit more." begged Tanith. Benita agreed but not happily. She was getting really cold.

Finally, just before they were ready to give up Tanith managed to get two small piles of snow to stay together. "There!" she exclaimed excitedly showing them to Benita.

"Okay." said Benita, but she didn't share Tanith's enthusiasm. They didn't look like snow dogs to her. They just looks like lumps of snow. "Now, what are we going to do?"

"Let's take them in the house." said Tanith.

"In the house?" asked Benita, "but they'll melt." she reminded her friend.

"We are going to paint them, and then we'll put them in the freezer.

Paint them? This whole thing was just getting crazier and crazier to Benita, but still she went along with it. Tanith was always coming up with crazy ideas and very often they turned out to be a whole lot of fun. However, this whole snow dog think might have been the craziest idea Tanith ever had.

They took the snow dogs into the house and brought them into the playroom. Tanith searched around for some paint but all she could find was her brother's red and yellow fingerpaint. "This will have to do." she announced. Benita just shook her head.

They sat down at the table, and spent the next twenty minutes trying to get the finger paint to adhere to the snow, but it just wouldn't stick. It did, however get all over the table, the chairs and the two girls.

"Maybe, you should have asked your mother if we could make snow dogs before we started." Benita suggested looking around at the mess. She didn't want to get in trouble.

"Mom!" called Tanith. "Can we make snow dogs?"

"No!" her mother answered decisively.

"Too late." replied Tanith.

The Lost Valentine

Today's Story is by me and my daughter


Valentine's Day was a big deal in the Tisdale household.  There were three girls in the family. Marta was the oldest. Lena was in the middle. Kara was the youngest. Each year each child would get a card and a small gift. The gift might be chocolate or it might be a little toy or maybe even some flavored lip gloss or something.  They never knew what they were going to get, and they were always eager to find out.

The night before Valentine's Day, Lena could hardly sleep. She was so excited to wake up and get her Valentine's gift. She tried reading a little. She tried counting sheep. She even tried to lay really still and clear her mind, but nothing worked. After a long long while, she was finally able to drift off to sleep.

Lena awoke to the sound of screaming. It was her little sister, Kara. "Thank you, Mommy!" she shrieked excitedly. "I love my stuffed unicorn. I have always wanted one. I love the card too. I can't wait to use the stickers!"

Next Lena heard the voice of her older sister, Marta. "Thanks for the candy flavored lip gloss. I can't wait to try it!" she said happily.

Lena pratically jumped out of her bed. She was so excited to see what she got. She looked on her desk, but there was nothing there that hadn't been there they day before. She rushed out of her room and ran downstairs. She went in the kitchen. The table was all set for breakfast, but there was no card or present for her anywhere in sight.

Mommy was at the stove finishing making heart-shaped Valentine's day pancakes. "Happy Valentine's Day, sweetie." she greeted Lena cheerfully.

Lena waited for her Mom to tell her where her gift was, but Mom was too busy cooking. When she finished, she called up to Marta and Kara to come down so they could all eat breakfast, and they wouldn't be late for school.

When they sat down to eat, Lena looked at her plate sadly. Then, she got an idea and  excitedly lifted her plate into the air and looked under it. Her pancakes slid onto the table, and there was nothing under the plate.

"Lena!" exclaimed her mother in horror. "Put down your plate and eat your breakfast."

Lena sadly put her plate down, but she was too disappointed to eat. She just picked at her food. Soon, it was time to go to school. Lena sighed. So far, this was the worst Valentine's Day ever.

Later, when Lena got home from school, her mother greeted her at the door. "Hi sweetie." she said. "Did you have a nice day? Did you get lots of Valentine's?"

Lena looked at her mother as if she were going to cry. "I got Valentine's from the kids in my class." she said sadly.

Her mother was puzzled. "Isn't that a good thing?" she asked in confusion.

"It's not the same!" exclaimed Lena bursting into tears.

"The same as what?" Mommy inquired rushing to comfort Lena.

"The same as getting a special Valentine from you and Daddy."

Now, Mommy was really puzzled. "You didn't like the Valetine's card and gift we gave you this year?" she asked.

This time, it was Lena's turn to be puzzled. "What card?" she asked. "What gift? I didn't get anything."

"But I left it on your desk last night." insisted her mother. "Just like I did with your sisters'."

Lena hurried up to her room with her mother following closely behind. She looked all over her desk, but didn't see anything. "Look!" said Mommy she pointed to a colorful package sticking out from underneath the desk.

Lena got down on her hands and knees and quickly scooped it up and opened it. It was a sparkly charm bracelet with a heart charm. "Thank you, Mommy!" she exclaimed excitedly. Then, she opened the card and read it. It was the most beautiful card she had ever seen. "Thank you!" she said again. "This is the best Valentine' Day ever!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "I'm glad you didn't forget me."

"Oh, honey." her mother assured her. "I would never forget you."

Quarters for Quinella

When Mommy wanted help with something, 4 year old Quinella Torres was the only one who volunteered. Her older brother, Marco and her older sister, Marisol would always claim they had homework or else they would make sure they were not around.

At the end of  a week of Quinella's help, Mommy told Quinella. "I'm proud of you. You've been a big help to me this week." She handed Quinella four shiny quarters. 

Quinella's eyes opened as wide as saucers. To her, that was a huge amount of money. "Thank you, Mommy!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Can I buy something with my money?" she asked.

"Tomorrow I will take you to the dollar store." Mommy promised. "For now, go and put the money in the change purse Grandma gave you so don't lose it." Quinella quickly scurried off upstairs clutching the money tightly in her palm..

When she got to the room, she shared with her sister, Marisol who was allegedly studying but was actually watching YouTube videos, Marisol quickly put her phone down and picked up her school book, but she didn't actually open it. "What are you doing?" she rudely asked Quinella as if Quinella didn't have a right to be there. She liked to act as if Quinella were an annoying guest, and the room was was only her own.

"I'm putting my money away." Quinella told her sister proudly. 

"You have money?" Marisol asked in surprise. "How much do you have Where did you get it?"

"I have four quarters. " Quinella told her opening her hand and showing her sister. "Mommy gave it to me for helping her."

Marisol laughed. "That's nothing." she said. "I have six dimes." 

"Six?" said Quinella a little bit jealously. She knew that 6 was more than 4. "You're lucky."

"Would you like to trade?" Marisol asked her little sister sweetly acting as if  she would be doing her sister a big favor.

"Okay!" Quinella happily responded. She gave Marisol her four quarters, Marisol gave her the six dimes.  Then, Quinella quickly found her little red flowered purse and slid the money in it, and then, she cheerfully ran off holding  it tightly and singing. to herself. "I'm rich! I'm rich! I'm rich!"

Marco poked his head out of his room. He hadn't been studying either. He'd been looking up sports scores. "Hey! What's going on?" he demanded to know.

"I have six whole dimes." Quinella excitedly told him. She proudly held up her little coin purse  and shook it around so he could hear the coins jingle. "I used to have four quarters, but Marisol and I traded and now I have six dimes." she whispered. She didn't want Marisol to overhear and take the dimes back because 6 was better than 4.

"Oh, yeah?" replied Marco thoughfully. "Well, I have 8 nickels."

"Oh." replied Quinella enviously.  8 was even better than 6.

"Do you want to trade?" asked Marco.

"Sure!" replied Quinella. She quickly emptied the contents of her purse into her brother's hand. He gave her 8 nickels and she put them in her little change purse.  Then, she went off to show her mother that she had put her money in her little change purse like Mommy had told her too. 

When she found her mother, she opened her little purse and  let Mommy look inside to show her that the money was there. Mommy looked confused.  She didn't see any quarters in the purse all she saw was nickels. She spilled the money out onto the table just to confirm that the quarters weren't there."Where did all these nickels come from?" she asked curiously. "What happened to the quarters I gave you?" 

"I traded!" Quinella exclaimed with pride grinning from ear to ear. "Marisol gave me 6 dimes for my quarters. Then, Marco gave me 8 nickels for the 6 dimes. They must not know how to count very well, right Mommy? Everyone knows that 6 comes after 4 and 8 comes after 6. " She laughed, but Mommy did not laugh with her. In fact, Mommy's face turned bright red, and she looked quite angry. "Are you mad at me mommy?" Quinella asked worriedly.

"Of course, I'm not at mad at you, sweetie. Don't worry." Mommy assured her gently touching Quinella's cheek. "It's your brother and sister who need to worry." She added sharply calling out for Marisol and Marco to come downstairs.  

Mommy had to call them both two more times before they finally came. When they finally arrived and  saw the pile of nickels on the table next to Quinella's open change purse, they exchanged worried looks. 

Mommy smiled mysteriously and Marisol and Marco didn't know what to think. Neither did Quinella. "So you all like to trade money, huh?"  Mommy said. "So we are going to trade. Quinella give me your nickels." Quinella quickly did as she was told. Mommy handed her a crisp dollar bill. Quinella didn't know that was the same amount of money she had to start with but she knew that dollar bills were better than change so she was content, and she smiled happily.

Next Mommy made Marisol give her the 4 quarters and she gave Marisol  6 copper pennies. "Because six is more than 4 isn't it Marisol?" Mommy said giving Marisol a huge fake smile.  Then she gave Marco 8 pennies for his 6 dimes.  Afterwards, she asked "Now who wants to go to the dollar store?" 

"Me! Me!" exclaimed Quinella exitedly. Marisol didn't say anything. Marco didn't say anything. 

"I guess it's just you and me." Mommy told Quinella and this time she smiled a genuinely happy smile.

Marietta the Marionette

Marietta Pinnock was a terrific little girl. She was happy.  She was sweet. She was kind. Her biggest fault was that she had a tendency to lie. "I can do 50  pushups." she bragged to the kids in her class when in fact, she could only do 5. "Why, yes I finished my homework." she assured her mother when she hadn't even started it.

Marietta's lying bothered her father. It bothered her mother. However, most of all it bothered her  sister, Joetta. Joetta was always falling for Marietta's lies and then being disappointed. "Mommy and Daddy have big surprise for you!" Marietta would joyfully tell her. Joetta would get so excited just to be disappointed when it turned out to be one of Marietta's lies.

Joetta tried not to get caught up in Marietta's lies, but she so wanted to believe them that time after time she just kept getting fooled. Finally, she had enough. After Marietta told her that they were going to see the movie she had been so looking forward to, and it turned out to be not true, that was the last straw. "I'm not listening to you anymore, and if you don't stop telling lies your nose is going to grow." shouted Joetta.

Marietta shook her head at Joetta. Then, she burst into hysterical laughter. "That only happens in fairytales." she assured her sister.

"Well, Daddy is going to turn you into a puppet then!" retorted Joetta. Their father was a talented puppet maker.

"He couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that." replied Marietta but her voice was little shaky. Their father could make a puppet out of anything. He couldn't make one out of child, could he? If he could he wouldn't make one out of his own daughter, would he?

Just to be sure that day, Marietta tried very carefully not to lie. When she accidentally caught herself in a lie at dinnertime, she quickly looked to see if her father had heard, but he hadn't seemed to notice. She breathed a sigh of relief.

At bedtime, Marietta was so tired from the effort of being good all day that she fell right to sleep. It was not an easy sleep, however. She kept tossing and turning all night.

When the alarm clock went off, Marietta was still tired and didn't want to get up. Joetta came in to get her. "Come on, lazy bones!" she said. "It's time to get up. You don't want to be late for school." She opened Marietta's shades.

"Hey!" exclaimed Marietta shading her eyes from the sun. Then, she noticed the hand she had put in front of her face. It was entirely made of wood. She checked her other arm. That one was made of wood too. She checked one leg and then the other. They were both made of wood too. She glanced at the mirror in the corner of the room and she realized that she was entirely made of wood. Not only that, she had a painted on face and strings coming out of her head. "Oh no!" she screamed. Apparently, her father could turn people into puppets, and he would turn his own daughter into a puppet because she was now a puppet. She was no longer Marietta the girl. She was Marietta the Marionette. Marietta began to cry.

Joetta laughed evilly and glared at her sister. "This is what happens to bad little girls who lie!" she declared.

"I don't want to be a  puppet. I don't want to be puppet." Marietta cried and she just kept repeating it over and over again. Until finally, she felt someone taping her on the shoulder.

It was Joetta and she wasn't glaring anymore. In fact, her face held quite a worried expression. "Are you okay?" she asked her sister in a concerned voice.

"No, I'm not okay." shrieked Marietta. "I'm a puppet, but I thought you were happy about that."

"You're a what?" asked Joetta.

"I'm a puppet." Marietta reminded her. "You were the one who told me Daddy was going to turn me into a puppet if I didn't stop lying, and you were right."

"But I just said that because I was mad at you, and even Daddy can't turn a girl into a puppet. I mean seriously, Marietta. You ought to know better." Joetta just shook her head at her sister.

Marietta leapt to her feet to argue, but as she did so she noticed that her body parts felt normal again. She hurried over to the mirror and looked herself all over. There were no more wooden limbs, no more painted face, and no more strings attached to her head. It must have been dream. She sighed in relief.

However, her relief was short-lived. "Hey!" she said to Joetta. "You tried to get me to stop telling lies by telling a lie."

"I guess." replied Joetta. She had never thought about it that way before. "I'm sorry." she said sincerely. "I will stop lying to you on one condition."

"What condition?" asked Marietta warily.

"I will stop lying to you if you stop lying to me."

"It's a deal." declared Marietta enthusiastically and they shooked hands on it. From that day on, Marietta stopped telling lies - most of the time.